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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. When was this ________________ built?
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. file — a document
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. file — a tool
  6. file — a line of people
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. perch — the fish
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. content — happy
  13. last — finally
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. rash — a series
  17. last — to go on
  18. last — final
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. content — the amount
  21. mine — for digging
  22. rash — hasty
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. temple — a place of worship

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com